Thursday, 15 October 2015

I remember when I was young that I thought custard tarts (I only ever remember the mini versions, not full size, sliceable pies like this) were beyond repulsive. I think it was the name that really did it for me: 'egg custard tarts'. I mean, who'd want sweet eggs?

It was only me who felt like that though - my brother and mother loved them, and ate them often. I think it was out of a strange sense of nostalgia for the food of my childhood that I decided to make one recently, and - I am a man converted - it was so good I thought I should share.

(I'm not going to lie - the desire to make this recipe was also born out of the need to use my beautiful new tart pan which you must agree, is really quite lovely).

The recipe is actually one of Edd Kimber's. I haven't made one of his recipes for ages (possibly since the carrot cake cookies of the 'He Eats' days, which dates me considerably), but it was what I'd expect from him: foolproof. I changed the proportions of milk and cream slightly, but it still works fine.

Is there something you like as an adult that you hated as a child? Let me know in the comments!

Custard Tart

You will need:

225g
plain flour

150g
chilled butter (unsalted)

50g
caster sugar

pinch
of salt

1
egg

300ml
single cream

150ml
milk, full fat is best

a vanilla pod

8 egg yolks

100g
caster sugar

Nutmeg,
to taste

For the pastry, I use a mixer, but your hands would be
fine. Put the flour and butter into a large bowl and rub the flour and butter
together (or beat with the flat paddle, if using a mixer). When the mixture
looks like fine crumbs, add the sugar and salt.

Crack in the egg. Mix together using a fork and then use
your hands to work the pastry together. Or, if using the mixer, just carry on at
low speed with the paddle beater.

Once a dough has formed, wrap in cling film and chill
for about an hour. This little cool down makes the rolling easier, and I wouldn’t
skip it, so plan ahead.

Roll out the pastry until it’s about an inch or so bigger than
your tart pan. I use a 9 inch metallic one with a removable base, lightly
greased with butter.

Line the flan tin, pushing the pastry into the corners
carefully but firmly. Refrigerate again for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile,
heat the oven to 180°C.

Line the chilled pastry case with baking parchment.
Bake blind for 20 minutes, then remove the baking parchment and bake for a
further five minutes to make sure the base is properly coloured. Turn down the
oven to 130°C.

Make the custard next, in the usual way: heat the
cream and milk with the seeds from the vanilla pod. Meanwhile, beat the egg
yolks and sugar together. When the cream and milk is simmering, add it to the yolks
and sugar, constantly whisking as you do so.

Pour the custard into the pastry case and grate lots of nutmeg over the tart. Bake for
around 35 minutes, until the custard is set but still slightly wobbly in the
very centre. Take the tart out of the oven and let it cool completely before
serving. I ate mine with mango purée, but you don’t need to add anything.

Monday, 13 July 2015

I know that coconut is a bit of a divisive thing. There's no doubting its current popularity as a healthfood: you only need to look at the chilled aisle of any supermarket to see the dozens of different branded coconut waters available, as well as the curious yet delicious vegan coconut yogurt that seems to be in everyone's lunchboxes these days. Then there's the jarred coconut oil, with its exotic fragrance and myriad of uses. Everyone loves it. And yet, when you put coconut in a cake, people seem disappointed that you didn't go for chocolate instead.

Imagine my surprise then, when the photo you see above got more than 200 'likes' on Instagram over the course of a few hours. Are people coming over to the dark (and tropical) side, finally?

They'd be right to; that cake is divine. But it's also not the coconuttiest slice of happiness I have ever turned out, so is probably a good place to start if you're wanting to see if you, too, oh coco-shy sweet lover, like the good stuff as much as the rest of us.

It's a cake I have heard tell of for the last few years, and been curious about making. The method is unusual and so are the quantities of ingredients - most of the fat in the recipe is from tinned coconut milk (it contains only a smidgen of butter), and there are lots of eggs, which means a gorgeous close crumb and texture.

Sadly, I am not going to be giving you the recipe, because it's from a book by Dorie Greenspan that I really want to encourage you to buy for yourself: Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I know that it's not exactly a little-known title. It's more that I was given a copy of the book for my birthday recently (33 - don't tell anybody) by my parents-in-law, and it is, in all honesty, more than worthy of the hype. It's simply stunning: full of clearly explained and delicious sounding recipes for cakes, cookies, pies and all manner of desserts, I'll be baking from it for years.

Coconut is amply covered (I think Dorie might be a fan), so the book is in keeping with modern diet trends (if we're calling desserts healthfoods - I'll leave that up to you).

I think the book would suit anybody who has in interest in baking, whether an absolute beginner or a more advanced sweet maker. Dorie is American, but has lived in Paris for years, so there is a nice balance between US style recipes and European classics. Buy it. You'll love it!

But while you wait for it to arrive, try these coconut recipes from around the web:

Thursday, 5 March 2015

A friend of mine recently sent me a message via WhatsApp telling me that she had one of my yogurt pot cakes in the oven as she typed and loved how easy they were to make; she has a baby and so can't exactly start busting out gâteaux St. Honoré at the drop of a hat.(Though who can?)

Anyway, it got me to thinking: we haven't had a bizcocho around here for ages!

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Valentine's Day is on it's way: make your restaurant reservations now!

Or, don't. I might be in the minority here, but there are so many reasons why eating at home is more romantic than eating out (which, even those in the minority like myself have to accept is what most couples seem to want to do for this red-and-pink paper heart scattered holiday).

Chief among these is my belief that nothing - that's right, nothing - says 'I love you' like cooking someone a meal. Ironing for them will come a close second, granted, but that simple act of preparing something to eat for someone other than yourself is the ultimate expression of love. It's about sharing, caring and nourishing; it tells your lover, friend or family member that you value them. It's a beautiful thing to do.

It's also a great way to show off, which you might find yourself wanting to do if you're newly attached at this time of year. We've all been there.

This, for me, is the ultimate food for the occasion. It's exotic (and be honest with yourself: you need that at this time of year), it's simple (I made it in my Multicooker REDMOND RMC-M4502, so it almost made itself, truth told) and it will wow.

One day, I am going to travel to Southern India and taste this sort of seafood curry for myself. I might even take my Valentine (so long as he pays half). But until then, I'll make it in my little Cardiff kitchen on dark, dreary February days and dream.

The red utensils around my Redmond may make it seem like I am a Valentine's aficionado.

But do not be fooled. I am still bitter. :)

You can vary this quite a bit. If you don't have any cod, use another white fish. Or use prawns (straight from frozen will be fine). Vegan? Throw in a tin of chickpeas.

Happy Valentine's Day. (And don't worry - I will be back to the sweet stuff soon enough!)

Thursday, 6 November 2014

Given my recent praise of the weather for its hot breakfast facilitating benefits, I feel it might be time to let you in on another of my winter morning food pleasures. But before we go any further I feel I should say that I am someone who doesn't recognize certain foods as being just for breakfast.

Actually, no, that's not quite what I mean. What I am trying to get at is that I don't believe breakfast has to be made up of what is commonly thought of as 'breakfast food'. I think this is because I spent nearly eight years as a flight attendant, and would frequently find myself wanting a bowl of noodles, or a burger, at, say, seven a.m.

Thus I regularly feast (in cold weather) on these vegetable patties first thing in the morning, and I eat them with eggs (sometimes poached, sometimes - as today - fried) and Branston pickle. I actually put Branston in them as well, which I know will cause some people to class them firmly as 'not breakfast food'. To them I say: "Fine. Enjoy your cornflakes. But consider these for lunch or dinner at least."

My favourite thing about these patties is their crisp and golden crust. But my second favourite thing is that you make them with leftover vegetables. In fact, sometimes I cook extra carrots, potato and swede just to be able to make these. They seem like the sort of thing I should have been brought up eating (but wasn't - which I think might be because there were five of us in the house, so there was never leftover anything), yet are interesting enough to eat that I would happily serve them to guests.

You could vary these endlessly: add chopped leftover green beans; use different herbs; coat them in breadcrumbs if you don't have cornmeal.They are so simple to make that once you have, they will soon become a part of your regular meals.

Have you got any similar leftover-based dishes you recommend? Leave a comment and I'll try them out!

Thursday, 30 October 2014

I love this time of year for so much more besides the pumpkins and associated spiced lattes (pfft… whatever). Autumn is the time of year when breakfast gets interesting, and I start to fancy something other than the Bircher muesli my friend Clare has caused me to become slightly more than healthily addicted to. She calls it the 'summer porridge, breakfast of champions.' On the whole, I'd go along with that, except that compared to regular porridge, Bircher is like a bowl of nothing.

I love hot breakfasts! Or anything that isn't just plain cereal, which, though I love it, Bircher muesli kind of is. The only problem is that I don't always have time to make proper porridge in the morning, and even if I do, I can't always be bothered with the stirring. This is one of the reasons I have been loving tinkering with my newest bit of kitchen booty - the multicooker.

Whereas it looks like a rice cooker, the Redmond RMC-RM4502 actually does more than that. It bakes bread and cakes, fries, deep fries, stews and steams. Oh, and makes porridge - from oats, cornmeal, buckwheat, you name it, the Remond will cook it. I have really enjoyed using it in the kitchen because it has a time delay function, which means that I can go to bed knowing I'll wake up to a warming, healthy breakfast with no early morning prep. Doing my hair takes long enough, to be honest. As if I would be feasting on cornmeal and maple porridge of a morning if I had to actually cook it myself when I woke up!

(If only I had had one of these as a student! You know, I basically didn't eat breakfast for four years when I was at university. When you get up late and have to be in language lab for 9am, breakfast doesn't really feature in the day.)

I have also been baking in the Redmond. And eating the cakes for breakfast. I have found it makes really light and airy, yet moist, sponge cakes, like the ones Italians call 'pan di Spagna'. Perfect with a cup of coffee and a piece of fruit. Or just the coffee.

In fact, as you can see, the multicooker has basically been my breakfast saviour for the past few weeks. I think it's a great machine and am planning on trying some bread in it this weekend. I gave our breadmaker away years ago, as a single function machine that takes up so much room just didn't seem worthwhile. The multicooker is here for keeps though!

Cake can be a breakfast food too!

If you have a Redmond multicooker as well, give my breakfast recipes a try (as well as some of the 100 recipes that come with it!). They will make autumn and winter that little bit more delicious!

Place the cornmeal, milk and maple syrup in the machine bowl and stir well. Cook for 35 minutes on the oatmeal setting. Stir well and serve topped with nuts, sultanas and a sprinkle of soft brown sugar. Gorgeous.

First, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and moussey. This will take ages, and you will feel like your arm is going to fall off, unless you have the common sense to use an electric whisk.

Still beating, add the lemon zest and vanilla, then gradually the flour.

Pour into the greased machine bowl (I used vegetable oil - a baking spray would be fine, or butter). Bake for 40 minutes on cake setting.

Cool on a rack as you would a regularly baked cake.

I have made this twice so far in the multicooker. Once with plain flour, and once with self raising. I know everyone says that you should always use plain flour when there's no butter in the recipe, but honestly, with the self raising you get a much higher rise. Don't listen to the books, listen to me! :)

Delicious Delicious Delicious received a sample multicooker courtesy of Redmond and was commissioned to write a recipe. My opinions are, as always, my own.

Wednesday, 8 October 2014

It's that time of year again. Everybody has started screaming about #PSLs being available at that coffee chain that we keep supporting even though they don't pay their corporation taxes. I'm so over it.

Don't get me wrong: I love pumpkin more than you could ever understand. When I first found out about pumpkin spice latte, my heart skipped a beat (though I did think the idea of pumpkin and coffee sounded rather on the not delicious side of delicious). But here's the thing…

THERE'S NO PUMPKIN IN THE DAMN THINGS! It's pumpkin spice in the sense of 'spices that you might put into a pumpkin pie', not actual pumpkin-infused coffee drink.

I thought it was awful. Misleading. Wrong. And then it dawned on me last week that I could use the widely accepted deceit to my advantage, since I didn't actually have any pumpkin in the house and I wanted to bust out the Nordic Ware pumpkin loaf pan. (And why wouldn't I? Have you seen how beautiful this cake is?)

So there we go: pumpkin spice cake, without an ounce of pumpkin in it. Well, if Starbucks can do it with their lattes…

Try it. I'm not saying don't cook with pumpkin at all, but if you have this tin, it's a shame not to use it at this time of year. (I actually also use it for lemon drizzle year-round, but don't tell anyone.)

By the way, the almond extract is optional, but I have been tinkering about with my bottle of it ever since Fuss Free Helen turned me onto the stuff made by Steenberg's. I love the extra marzipanny depth it gives everything, but I know that not everyone is an almond lover, so you might just want the vanilla. Your choice.